New Orleans has been sitting on nearly $34 million in federal housing aid it received since 1993, and needs to spend money soon if it wants to keep it The Times-Picayune reports.
New Orleans officials have been directing the money to programs such as affordable housing, but have yet to actually spend any.
A May 31 deadline has been set up for the city to spend $10 million in federal Housing and Urban Development money that has been unused for the past five years.
Anthony Faciane, from the New Orleans Office of Recovery, said that he is confident that the deadline will be met, and implied that slow recovery from Hurricane Katrina was the problem.
City council member Cynthia Willard-Lewis told the newspaper: “I agree it was a problem for six months to a year, but now we’re into four years since the storm.”
–Brittany Owens/Newsdesk.org
Source:
“Recovery official: City set to spend federal housing aid by May deadline”
The Times-Picayune, March 16, 2009